Conditioning textile stock



Nov. 16, 1937. H. L. SIEVER I CONDITIONING TEXTILE STOCK Filed Feb. 10, -1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l EVEIITOR ATTORNEYS Nov. 16, 1937. H. SIEVER 2,099,146

CONDITIONING TEXTILE STOCK Filed Feb. 10, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORN EYS Patented Nov. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES CONDITIONING TEXTILE STOCK Hughes L. Siever, Keyser, W. Va., assignor to Borne Scrymser Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 10, weasel-m1 No. 710,647

, 2 Claims.

The ,object 'of the invention is an improved method and apparatus for applying conditioning liquids to uncarded'textile stock-and particularly oil to raw cotton, in course of handling in' the normal sequence of operations incident to its manufacture into yarn.

According to my invention the stock is treated while in lap form and is subjected to the action of a spray of liquid enclosed within a hood which is properly applied to and covers a predeter- -mined surface area of the travelling lap across its width. While the moistening of the stock is best accomplished by means of a finely atomized spray, the latter, because of its foglikecharacter, has a natural and persistent tendency to spread out and permeate the atmosphere of the room, which is objectionable not only in that in timeit coats with oil all of the exposed surfaces in the room, but also in that it results in a serious waste of the oil. I have foundthat it is possible and practical to confine suchan oil spray to the lap alone and so that none ofgit escapes for objectionable contact with other objects by mounting the hood in a particular relation to the top of the lap, so that its open bottom or mouthis barely in contact therewith, and I have found that such relation to the fibres constituting the loose surface of the lap producesin effect a practical fog seal, preventing objectionable escape of an atomized spray generated 5 will be understood the lap is supported from I beneath, by a moving conveyoror otherwise and its stated relation to the hood is at all times maintained, thereby not only avoiding waste of the-liquid and the coating of all other apparatus in the room, but also ensuring a uniform and closely controllable moistening of the lap as it is advanced across the mouth of the hood.

Further features of the invention exemplified in thep'referred form illustrated are pointed out below. l

In the accompanying drawings theinvention is shown applied to a cotton picker, Fig. 1 being'a side view of the equipment, in part diagrammatic, Fig. 2 a section on the line II II of Fig. 1, enfio larged and partly broken out, l='ig. 3 a" section on the line III-III of Fig. 2 and Figs. 4 and 5 respectively a section and end view of one of the ,spray' nozzles=oratomifzers on astill larger scale.- j In the conventional picker-illustrated in Fig. 1,;

55 the'stock I, previously reduced to lap 'form, is

supported on a conveyor lattice or the like 2 .and by it is continuously advanced toward beater 3 according to the usual sequence of operations. It willbe understood that the termlap' is used herein not in its limited sense to denote only the finished lap as delivered to the cards, but to include a so the sheet or bat form of the cotton as existing at various points in its course to and through the picker machinery.

Mounted on the picker frame is the hood 5 of this invention, supported by the uprights 6 or otherwise as the particular picker design may dictate but preferably so as to be readily adjusted according to the thickness of the lap, al-

though it can of course be initially mounted in' the correct position suitable for the average lap. In the instant case the standards 6 are rigidly secured to the picker frame and the supports 1 projecting from the ends of the hood seat on collars 8 set at the required height. The hood extends from side to side of the picker and is located at such height that the rounded rim form its lower or open side or mouth is in close proximity to the lap. Actual rubbing contact between the hood and the stock is not necessary, since if the pressure inside the hood is maintained sufliciently low, the confined fog does not escape to any objectionable extent but is deposited on the stock, possibly through electrical causes. As a precaution against disturbance of the lap condition of the stock by contact with the hood, it is desirable that the rim ,of the latter be broad or so shaped or means otherwise provided to ensure free movement of the lap as a whole. To this end and serving also to ensure the passage of occasional bunches of fibres, a guide member 9 (Fig. 3) preferably highly polished is secured to the lower edged the hood on the .entrance side and-on the-exit side as at I0, the lower edge of the hood, likewise pref- 40 erably polished, is curved outwardly and terminates almost parallel with the path of travel of the lap. So arranged the hoodmay be brought closer to the body of the lap without danger of the stock being rucked up either on the entrance 45 side of or within the hood. The latter is thus. adapted to enclose a predetermined, limited area of the top of the lap, and, since the length of this area in the direction of travel of the stock need ,be no more than a few inches, the hood is readily located on the picker without interference with theadjacent beater or other mechanism, notwithstanding the limited space available on the majority of pickers.

' In theprei'erred form illustrated, ears n and [2 extending from the hoodend walls beyond the sides of the hood serve to support pipes l3 and I I which respectively constitute liquid and air manifolds. Depending from air pipe l4 and passing through the top of the hood so asto discharge within it are a number of spaced atomizers or spray nozzles l5, each comprising a cylindrical body having a central liquid passage l6 and two air passages I1 terminating in opposed outlets l8, one on each side of the outlet I9 of the liquid passage.

The upper end of each nozzle is fitted to the air manifold l4 and the. latter is apertured as at to connect the air passages ll with the interior of pipe M. Each nozzle is secured to the pipe by a U-shaped clamp 2i, the slotted arms of which engage pins 22 projecting from the sides of the nozzle and serve to draw the nozzle into sealing contact with the air pipe upon the tightening of set screw 23.

In the lateral branch 2410f each liquid passage I6 is inserted a nipple 25 preferably at a slight angle to the nozzle body so as to drain away from the nozzle when the apparatus is at rest and each nipple is connected by a short pipe 26 with the liquid supply pipe it.

The entire moistening apparatus thus comprises a self-contained unit, readily located as described and requiring only that the manifolds be coupled to suitable sources of air and liquid supply, the latter preferably through the medium of'a variable output pump 21, whereby the volume of liquid discharged Within the hood may be varied without requiring individual control of the nozzles or their pipe connections.

' In the use of my invention, it is desirable to avoid any such action as would disrupt the lap formation by causing the stock to fiu-if up, break away from the body of the lap and collect within the hood, cotton being particularly susceptible in this respect, and accordingly the nozzles, whether of the air-operated type described or otherwise, are of such nature as to effect a deposit resembling dew on the lap surface under the hood rather than a forcible spraying action as heretofore applied to the moistening of wool and other fibres.

To achieve this end in any particular installation, while presenting no special problem, requires adjustment according to the conditions in hand 'but I have found that particularly desirable results are obtained with the apparatus disclosed when the air supply pressure ranges from 1 to 3 lbs. per sq. inch. With such pressure and the type of atomizer illustrated, the orifices I8 and F9 are relatively small, being in the neighborhood of diameter and in this connection, it will be observed (Fig. 5) that the air outlets l8 are slightly offset in relation to the axis of the liquid jet, which arrangement serves to spread the spray produced by the impinging jets of air and liquid.

Under these conditions the interior of the hood is substantially filled with low pressure fog of finely divided conditioning liquid, as indicated, and I have found that even though the nozzles are no more than a few inches from the lap the desired moistening is effected without disturbance of the stock and without escape of oil to the external atmosphere. In other words, the lap serves to seal the open bottom of the hood so that while it may allow air from the hood to pass through it, substantially none of the oil particles escape being apparently caught on the surface of the lap which, being fiufliy and porous and covering the Whole of the open bottom, acts somewhat in the nature of a filter, so far as the oil is concerned, this being the effect'of a proper correlation between the pressure existing inside the hood and the proximity of its open mouth to the lap surface. The correct relation is easily determined and fully effective for retaining the oil. 4 It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the hood produces uniform surface moistening and that the subsequent doubling and drawing of the stock incident to its manufacture into yarn serves to distribute the applied liquid thoroughly throughout the entire mass of stock.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for applying oil and like conditioning fluid to cotton stock comprising in combination, means for supporting a continuous,

proximity to the edges of said open bottom and the pressure condition within the hood being correlated to prevent substantial oil escape to the external atmosphere.

2. Apparatus for applying oil and like conditioning fluid to cotton stock comprising, in combination, a lattice conveyor on a pick-er or like stock-working machine adapted to feed a continuous flat lap into such machine, fixed supporting members mounted on such machine at the sides of said lattice conveyor, an open-bottom hood adjustablycarried on said support with its open mouth extending crosswise of, and in close but non-rucking proximity to said lap, means including a plurality of oil and air jet nozzles in said hood adapted to create and main- :j

tain therein a low-pressure oil fog, said lap constituting a complete though porous closure for said open mouth suited for preventing es ape of the oil particles therefrom to the external atmosphere.

HUGHES L. SIEVER. 

